What is the deal with commuter rail/subway parking? The MBTA owns the lot, but do they pay someone to collect money, maintain and patrol them? Do they get most of the money that is collected from a days use?

The MBTA contracts with companies to collect the money; the companies are paid a fee to do this. If you look at the collection boxes, you'll see posters from the companies with their policies, such as what to do when it snows.

There are also some lots that are not owned by the MBTA. For example, the main lot in Mansfield is owned by Mansfield. The Anderson/Woburn lot is owned by Massport.

OK, thanks for clearing that up. For those have not noticed, the MBTA now collects money 7 DAYS A WEEK/52 WEEKS A YEAR. HOLIDAYS AND WEEKENDS ARE NOT FREE ANYMORE. I wanted to let you folks know that. I read on blog about this and didn't believe it, but I found out for myself this morning @ Readville. The sign says that riders must pay 7 days a week, no free holiday or weekend parking. I guess the MBTA is trying to pull in as much money as they can. I wouldn't be surprised if they raised parking to $3/day

Another example of non-MBTA parking is Route 128. The fee is $3 for up to 14 hours. Then after 14 hours, it goes to $10/day, so that affects most Amtrak riders (though not if you do a quick trip!). A good feature of Route 128 is that you can use your Fastlane (aka EZ-Pass) and have the fee charged electronically.

diburning wrote:most lots have a box where you stuff the money into. I think they do routine checks and empty the box and tow cars in spaces that haven't been paid for.

The box is for violation tickets they give to you if you do not pay in the morning, if you wait to pay when you come off the train going home from work in the afternoon, they you'll see a little yellow ticket affixed to the windshield which you must also put in an extra 75-cent penalty for failing to pay in advance. Also, you do not get credit for payment in wrong slot, so always make sure the slot number matches the space in which you parked your vehicle.

Also, there's this type of pre-pay parking available up front at Braintree Station's Pick Up-Drop-Off area, but you need to get there very early in the morning.

l008com wrote:OK so if it's $3.50 to park, what are you supposed to do, squeeze some quarters up in the slot? And there's no way to tell if you haven't paid, unless no one has been in that spot all day right?

The lot at Wellington (where it costs $3.50) has gates with attendants who collect the fee when you leave.

l008com wrote:OK so if it's $3.50 to park, what are you supposed to do, squeeze some quarters up in the slot? And there's no way to tell if you haven't paid, unless no one has been in that spot all day right?

The lot at Wellington (where it costs $3.50) has gates with attendants who collect the fee when you leave.

Why don't they have automated gates that only open once you put in the money? I've seen some automated gates at toll booths like that. It could save the T some much needed money to get out of its debt, and reassign these attendants to more cruical jobs like driving trains or buses, or work at BET or what have you.